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Loughborough alumni Dan Dicker, the Founder and Director of ashortwalk, will be leading a lecture next Tuesday (13 November).

He will talk about his time at the University, his fascinating career and the planet-saving products he has designed and developed.

Dan graduated from Loughborough in 1995 with a BSc in Industrial Design and Technology with Education and went on to work as a designer and inventor for Dyson.

He left the technology giant in 2003 and started ashortwalk – a company that doesn't believe in waste and creates products from recycled materials.

From tide clocks made from beach plastic to house numbers that were once plant pots, Dan and his team – who are based in Cornwall and are just ‘a short walk’ away from the sea – have created a wide range of products from redundant materials; and work with global firms such as McDonalds, Unilever and Heineken to close the loop on their waste through new and considered products.

Dan’s talk at the University will demonstrate the interdisciplinary approach needed between Materials Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and Design in developing goods from waste.

Attendees will also get a preview of the rCup, ashortwalk’s latest product and ‘the world’s first cup made from used cups’, which will be available in the retail outlets on campus from next week.

Dan said: “It’s nearly 25 years on from my Loughborough days and it’s great to be coming back to where my passion for design all started.

“With increasing global pressures on our environment, that passion has increased as closed loop and circular economy design solutions start to show the world how today’s waste must be used for tomorrow’s product before it’s quite literally too late.”

Nik Hunt, the University’s Environmental Manager, commented:“We are really looking forward to welcoming Dan back to share with us the inspirational work he has been doing on developing products made from recycled materials.

“This will support the work we have been doing to reduce the one million disposable cups used on campus each year.”

The lecture, which is open to staff, students and members of the public, will take place on Tuesday 13 November from 6pm-7pm in Lecture Theatre U020, Brockington Extension Building. You can book your place here. Those that require more information can email Claire Fletcher at c.e.fletcher@lboro.ac.uk.

For more information about the work the University is doing to tackle disposable cups and to help the environment, visit the Sustainability webpages.